"We can help to some extent. And in the meantime, I continue to work," replied Filipe Lacarini to DW's question about his possible resignation. He believes that he can still meaningfully lead his organization - said the Secretary General of the UN aid organization Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) after a meeting in Brussels with European Union ministers responsible for development aid.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on Lacarini last weekend to resign. His country's military announced that it had found a radical Islamist Hamas tunnel under the UNRWA headquarters in the Gaza Strip. Lacarini stated that he knew nothing about those tunnels.
But, as he noted in Brussels, since the beginning of the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, almost 200 buildings of that UN organization have been used by both Hamas and the Israeli army for military purposes. During the firing of shells at the institutions of that UN organization - which may not have been intentional - thousands of people died, he said. After the end of the war against Hamas, which the EU, the US and some other countries consider a terrorist organization, it must be investigated in any case, Lacarini emphasized.
After the Hamas attack on Israeli civilians on October 7 last year, Israel launched a major defensive military operation.
Lacarini called on Israel to provide the United Nations internal investigative committee with evidence that 12 UNRWA associates worked for Hamas terrorists or even participated in terrorist attacks on Israel. "So far there is no evidence for that," says Lacarini. Those 12 associates were fired because of the seriousness of the charges, not based on the evidence, he says.
Israel believes that Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA
An Israeli diplomat told DW in Brussels that the involvement of UNRWA associates in Hamas activities indicates that Hamas has infiltrated the UN organization on a massive scale. That is why he says that it must be investigated to what extent the terrorists abused the UNRWA infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. This includes school buildings. At the same time, the Israeli government welcomes the decision of a number of countries that have decided to suspend UNRWA aid payments, he said.
New funding for UNRWA?
Payments to UNRWA were suspended by the United States, Germany and the European Commission – the three largest donors who together paid about 600 million dollars annually. The deadline for new payments is at the end of the month.
From the statement of the EU's high representative for foreign policy, Josep Borelj, it can be inferred that the money will be repaid. The condition for this was the initiation of the investigation, not its completion: "It is clear to all of us that such an investigation cannot be carried out in 20 days," Borelj said in Brussels. "The investigation will last as long as necessary, but in the meantime, people they have to eat, they have to go to the doctor." Every day, 30.000 people seek medical help, said Borelj.
State Secretary in the German Ministry for Development Aid, Johen Flazbart, also participated in the meeting in Brussels. And from his statement it can be inferred that Germany will continue to finance the UN organization to help Palestinian refugees. "It is indisputable that Germany stands completely on the side of Israel, but we have to accept that right now innocent people, the Palestinians, those who have nothing to do with Hamas, are in immense trouble."
Those troubles can only be alleviated with the help of UNRWA, which has been working there for 75 years, says Flazbart. "At the same time, I say that the work of UNRWA in the Gaza Strip cannot be replaced at the moment. People are dying in large numbers. Help is necessary, human help."
The UN committee monitors UNRWA's activities
An independent committee under the leadership of the former French foreign minister, Catherine Colon, commissioned by the United Nations, is currently reviewing the way UNRWA works. Her recommendations should be ready by mid-April. The head of UNRWA Lacarini announced that he will immediately implement those recommendations.
But that is not enough for the Israeli government, one of its diplomats in Brussels made it clear. The government in Jerusalem proposes that humanitarian aid to the Palestinians be provided in another way - say through the UN Food Program or through the International Red Cross.
Fighting for the suspension of arms deliveries to Israel
The Israeli government has been demanding the abolition of UNRWA for a long time, says Borelj. But he is in favor of continuing to support that organization. Her work simply cannot be replaced, given the catastrophic state of the population there, he says. Despite the differences of opinion between individual EU members, the impression is that "there is no alternative as far as aid to the Palestinians is concerned," says Borelj.
The number of dead due to the Israeli military operation is unbearable, and the actions of the Israeli army in the meantime are disproportionate, says Borelj. That's how the United States sees it, he believes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not listening to anyone, he is talking about the evacuation of Palestinians from Rafah, says Borelj. "Evacuation? Where? To the moon?" - angrily asks the high representative of the EU for foreign policy, adding that one million and 400.000 people in the south of the Gaza Strip are standing in a dead end. They were pushed to the wall.
Borelj recommended that the American and EU governments, which are now complaining that the number of dead civilians in the Gaza Strip is unbearable, suspend arms deliveries to Israel. "We need to do more than just express concern," he says. The call to the terrorist organization Hamas to stop its combat operations and thus stop the deaths of Palestinians could not be heard from the EU's high representative for foreign policy.
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